Li Mei dared not think that if Ning'er hadn't met that person named He Ci, she might have died out there without anyone knowing.
Li Mei grew angrier the more she thought about it. She decided that this time, no matter what, she couldn't let Ning'er go out again. No matter how easy it was to earn money outside, you had to be alive to spend it.
"How far have things progressed between you and that He Ci? Have you done anything inappropriate?"
Su Ning hurriedly denied it, afraid that her mother would overthink it and have a bad impression of He Ci.
"Mom, we don't. He respects me a lot and never forces me to do things I don't like. At most, we just hold hands."
Su Ning didn't dare tell her mother that the two of them had kissed and hugged, and even almost crossed the line several times.
Li Mei still believed in her daughter's character. Although the family was poor, she had raised her two children very well.
The mother and daughter were whispering in the kitchen. Su Qiang came back from the market and went to the kitchen. When he saw his wife and daughter, he happily put the basket on the cutting board.
"I bought an old hen to nourish my daughter for lunch. The New Year is just around the corner, so tomorrow our family will go to the market and buy some groceries for the New Year."
Li Mei opened the basket, inside were a slaughtered old hen, two pounds of pork ribs, dried shiitake mushrooms, vermicelli, green vegetables, bean sprouts, tofu...
Su Qiang felt sorry for his daughter, so he sat down under the stove to light the fire and told Su Ning to go back inside and wait. Su Ning couldn't refuse her parents, so she went back to the main room.
Su Ning's family was not doing well. When the family divided their property, her grandmother gave her parents two mud-brick houses, which were demolished and rebuilt when Su Ning was nine years old.
The family still has two rooms, but the mud-brick house has been replaced by a tiled house. Although the family is not wealthy, Su Qiang and Li Mei have never skimped on her food, clothing, or daily necessities.
Grandma disliked my father for being incompetent and never helped him. To prove her point, my mother never bowed her head to Grandma. Even when my father broke his leg and urgently needed money, she never asked Grandma for help.
Su Ning and Su An shared a room, which was just big enough to fit two small beds, each about one meter wide, leaving a small hallway for the siblings.
When Su Ning went in, Su An was still asleep. He had been chatting with his parents until midnight when he got home yesterday, and then fell asleep as soon as he lay down on the bed.
Now that she couldn't help, she remembered the gifts she had brought for her parents and younger brother. Su Ning found the suitcase and put it on the bed.
He Ci told me that this suitcase was imported, and the outside had a combination lock, which was very sturdy and secure. The combination was Su Ning's birthday, and He Ci taught her how to set it.
Su Ning opened her suitcase and rummaged through it for the gifts she had prepared for her family. Suddenly, a brown paper bag caught her eye.
Su Ning didn't remember ever putting this in her bag. She reached out and picked up the brown paper bag, but when she saw what was inside, her hand started to move uncontrollably.
When did He Ci put this in her suitcase? The two of them had been together since they arrived, so could it have been put there the night before?
Su Ning took out the contents, which included the money and a separate red envelope.
Su Ning opened the red envelope and found a letter and a jade bracelet inside. The contents of the letter were very simple.
“My dear! I can’t spend the New Year with you. My sister and I each have one of these bracelets. My mom said they were for my future wife, but now I’m giving them to you.”
Take this money and spend it. Don't mistreat yourself or your family. I didn't dare give you too much because I was afraid of scaring you. Here is 100,000 RMB that I asked someone to exchange. Consider it my New Year's money for you.
Happy New Year, looking forward to seeing you!
Su Ning was reading the letter intently, unaware that Su An had already woken up. When he saw the money in Su Ning's hand, he was stunned. So much money! He had never seen so many ten-yuan notes in his life.
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